silky and meaningful gifts
from the places you dream of or miss...
Our Silk comes from the country of its origin, the country where one princess (Leizu) discovered how to make this lustrous and luxurious fabric, and another princess (2700 years later) managed to break monopoly of her country on silk.
Leaving China to be married with a foreigner, she hid silk warm eggs in her hair do. She loved silk so much that even a death penalty, in case if she would be caught, didn’t stop her. Silk production was learned by many countries, but China still maintains dominance over the luxury silk market
China’s tradition of producing the best quality silk comes from the times of making luxury closing for the emperor’s court. It goes back several thousand years and it goes forward for as long, as there will be desire to feel as a princess and get dressed as an emperor.
Silk Chiffon is a very lightweight, sheer, flat-crepe textured silk with a dull, soft finish. It creates an elegant, flimsy look. Printing on Chiffon gives a sharp and fairly reversible picture. Silk chiffon touches the skin very tenderly, drapes freely and nicely, and does not wrinkle much. Perfect for scarves, and we use it a lot for our oblongs and shawls. Most of our scarves are made from Chiffon 8 mm (momme*).
Silk Habutai. Habutai is a Japanese word meaning 'soft as down'. It is soft, lightweight and lustrous. It as a soft graceful drape, a smooth surface, and varies in weight from 8 mm to 10 mm. Silk habutai is natural in color, sheer and ivory, yet printing on Habutai gives a sharp and colorful picture, which is not reversible. Shawls, wall decorations, table covers, bedding are the best use for silk habutai.
Silk Crepe and Crepe de Chine is a luxurious fabric with a good sheen and a pebbly texture. Crepe de Chine is similar, but lighter weight and less textured than silk crepe. Crepe de Chine has a beautiful drape. Printing on crepe de Chine gives a sharp and colorful picture, which is not reversible. This versatile silk can be used in shawls, scarves for men, scarves for women, as well as for home décor. We use crepe de Chine 12 mm, 14 mm, 16 mm. This silk can shrink a lot, so do not use hot water when washing. Drip dry.
Silk Georgette has a grainy texture and a sheer feel. Similar to silk crepe, but is not as soft or lustrous as crepe. Georgette is durable, but snags easily. It drapes very fluidly, and falls into soft ripples. Printing on Georgette gives a sharp and reversible picture. We use 8 mm, 10 mm, 12 mm for our silk scarves and shawls.
Silk Brocades (Chinese patterns). These are jacquard patterns woven on a heavyweight twill base, usually with patterns of peonies, dragons, bamboo, mums or other oriental patterns. Silk/Rayon blends are very good in home decoration where an Oriental Motif is desired. It is heavy enough for chair cushions.
Silk Tussah (also Tussar) is a medium to heavy weight silk made from free-range (Woo Hoo!) silkworms of the Antheraea mylitta or Antheraca proylei species. The warp and weft yarns are very different, giving tussah the look of woven grasses. Tussah is almost always a natural brown color, but it does dye well. Good for suits and jackets, and home decoration. It sews easily, but may unravel, so finished seams are advisable.
Silk Satin. No other fabric can quite compete with the sensation silk satin gives when you feel its soft and silky touch on your skin. It is glossy, shiny, shimmering and smooth, and has a somewhat cooling effect on its wearer. Even a little neck scarf made of silk satin ensures that you stay cool and fresh, enjoying the natural glow of your silk satin scarf throughout the day. Printing on silk satin gives a sharp and nonreversible picture. We use 12mm, 14mm, 16 mm silk satin in many different ways: for shawls, square neck scarves, handkerchiefs, bed sheets and home décor.
Silk Twill combines the utilitarian strength of the twill weave with the natural strength of silk! It has a diagonal rib, ridge, or wale, but still maintains a smooth texture. Printing on silk twill gives a sharp and not fully reversible picture. The texture of twill makes colors play with light and gives an elegant silvery glow to the ties and scarves. Great luster, wonderful drape and excellent durability for the weight of silk twill make it our favorite fabric for the ties (22 mm silk twill) and for shawls, neck scarves and head scarves (12 mm silk twill). Famous Hermes’s silk scarves are mostly made of silk twill.
Silk Doupion has a flat finish with very subtle linen-look slubbing. It is similar to tussah (wild) silk but more refined. It dyes beautifully and as a result, acquires a supple hand. It can be used for upholstery, drapery, or bedding.
Silk Fuji, or China Silk is a wonderful plain weave silk. This silk is the "hand" or touch that many people identify as silk. We use it for linens.
Silk Taffeta is a crisp, smooth woven fabric, which is considered to be a "high end" fabric. We use it for interior décor, curtains or wall coverings. Our piece-dyed taffeta is quite soft and we use it in bed linens. Yarn-dyed taffeta is much stiffer and we use it for interior décor.
Silk Organza is a sheer, lightweight
moderately wiry fabric. We use it for some bedding accessories and interfacings for sheers or semi-sheers or where extremely light stiffening is required. Can be dyed any color but it has some minor distortion from dyeing because of sheerness and irregularity of twisted yarns. It is washable and it will retain its crispness only if washed in cold water. It needs to be pressed while still wet.
Silk Jacquard Satin combines the best from both fabrics and makes the complicated and beautiful embossed jacquard pattern shining with a soft satin glow.
Silks that we use for home textile items (silk bedding, silk sheets, silk duvet covers, silk comforters, silk cushions, silk pillows, silk throws, silk curtains) such as: silk satin, habotai, silk doupion, silk /cotton, silk fuji, silk taffeta, silk organza, jacquard satin etc. can be 270cm wide without any seam in the middle, which is a pretty unique feature for the silk fabric.
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* momme – a unit to measure silk’s weight. Silk is measured by weight either by grams or by momme (mm). 28 grams = 1 ounce. 8 momme = 1 oz.